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Ivy. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
Ivy, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
Ivy in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
Ivy you have here. The definition of the word
Ivy will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
Ivy, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology 1
From ivy, the name of a plant. An ivy branch used to be hung outside an establishment to advertise that it sold alcohol, so it may originally been an occupationational surname for the proprietor of such an establishment. (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)
Proper noun
Ivy (plural Ivys or Ivies)
- A unisex given name from English.
- A female given name from English; popular in the UK in the beginning of the 20th century.
- 1882 Something to Read. (Edited by) Edwin John Bret: Something to read novelette. page 254:
- Little Ivy's life, as the months pass on, is a quiet, uneventful one, but exceedingly happy withal: - - - "You have a strange name, my dear," the old lady says one day, and the child answers in her serious, old-fashioned way, "Yes, so everyone has always said. You know my mamma died when I was born, and papa named me that because he said that I came when his heart was all aching with sorrow, and twined around it and comforted him."
1974, Patrick White, The Cockatoos: Shorter Novels and Stories., Cape, →ISBN, page 204:Kind people apply all the milder words to your face; only Father ever called it ugly. Ugly Ivy mingy as her name. Father himself was handsome and drunken. Mother had wanted 'Ivy' simple and yet pretty and for once stuck to her guns. You wished she hadn't.
- (rare) A male given name from English.
- Ivy Andrews, Ivy Calvin, Ivy Lee
- (rare) A diminutive of the male given name Ivan.
- Ivy Olson, Ivy Williamson
- A surname from English.
Derived terms
Etymology 2
Ellipsis of Ivy League.
Noun
Ivy (plural Ivies)
- (informal) A university that is part of the Ivy League.
Further reading
See also
Cebuano
Etymology
From English Ivy, from ivy.
Proper noun
Ivy
- a female given name from English
Tagalog
Etymology
Borrowed from English Ivy, from ivy.
Pronunciation
Proper noun
Ivy (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜌ᜔ᜊᜒ)
- a female given name from English